To B26
by becksbiggestfan
Summary: Two years after Aria and Ezra are reunited in the wake of CeCe's release, Ezra has continued spinning further down a path of destruction and darkness, nearing the point of no return. As a final hope, Ezra's brother reaches out to Aria hoping she will be able to pull Ezra back to sanity.
1. Chapter 1

Conversation erupted as applause ceased and Aria Montgomery stepped down from the podium. In her hand she held a glossy new copy of a book entitled _Prey_ , her own face plastered along the back and her name in bold letters on the front. The first eager-faced intern that approached her was immediately handed the book. A memoir detailing a time in her life she had wanted to forget was not what Aria had ever imagined as her first book-first best seller-but it was what the publishing agencies had wanted so she'd, regretfully, taken the deal.

"Miss Montgomery," Chloe, the event coordinator for the New York book talk called over to the 26 year old from across the room. "Book signing will be begin as scheduled in fifteen minutes. In the meantime, take a break."

Aria nodded once with a small smile, making her way towards the alley exit for some air. "Wait!" A second intern, this one with short blonde hair towering over most of the crew at 6'3, gently grabbed her arm. Once the writer had turned around, his face glowed red with sheepishness and embarrassment, immediately dropping his grip. "I'm-I'm sorry. It's just, a man is here asking for you. He says it's important."

For a moment, a few memories laced together in the back of Aria's mind from the days of torment she'd survived. Aria shook her head to clear it and followed the young man's gaze towards the entrance to the green room. She didn't know who she was expecting, but the well-kept, dark haired man in the doorframe was the last person she would ever expect.

Wesley Fitzgerald shared a half smile and pulled a hand from a pocket, offering up a bit of a wave. "Long time no see."

"Wes," Aria greeted. "This is…"

"Unexpected. Surprising. Given how we left things," he finished for her.

Aria forced the smallest laugh, trying to pretend that Ezra wasn't the only thing on her mind right then. "Um, what brings you here?"

The ease on Wes's face faded and he gestured back towards the green room behind him. "Let's sit."

Panic threw Aria's stomach down the trash chute. Scenarios played through her mind like a movie and she was suddenly convinced she was going to throw up. The past year had been too quiet and, given her life, quiet always came in the brewing of a storm. Sinking much too fast into the first chair Aria could find, she couldn't even wait until Wes found a chair himself. "Is Ezra okay?"

Wes's silence only confirmed her fears that something was not right. "When was the last time you saw my brother?"

"Um," Aria's voice shook. "Almost two years ago. When CeCe died."

"So you know he's been drinking. A lot." Wes stopped, but all he got in lieu of an affirmation was the smallest form of a nod. "It's gotten worse. A lot worse, actually, and he won't get help."

"But, he's alive?" Aria's voice squeezed out, tiny and afraid.

Wes shrugged, "If you can call shutting yourself away in an apartment and not leaving unless you run out of alcohol a life."

Aria sighed, her stomach still turned, but she regained nearly all of her composure. "Why are you coming to me with this? We broke up years ago."

"He's killing himself, Aria. No one can get through to him, but I thought maybe you.."

"Wes," Aria blinked a few times and broke contact with Wes, hoping he wouldn't see the tears brimming in her eyes. "Seven years ago, I would have been able to help. But, Ezra and I… we're strangers now. There's nothing I can do."

Leaning over his knees, Wes pleaded, "Please, Aria. You're his last hope."

"I have to-," Aria jumped up. "The book signing is soon and I need to go get ready. I'm sorry." Without even a second look at Wes, she hurried from the room, leaving Wes alone and disappointed.

Upon Aria's insistence, the book signing was bumped up a few minutes. She'd hoped that it wouldn't only serve as a getaway excuse, but also a distraction from the worries chasing around her mind. She cycled through the arsenal of common greetings that had become more familiar than the back of her hand the past few weeks. But the ease of the book signing proved to do just the opposite.

She found herself shuffling through memories, good and bad. The time the two of them had put paper bags over their heads, late nights watching movies or reading books with take out scattered around them, dates long since passed. But all of a sudden flashes of Ezra being shot, them breaking up, the fights when news of their relationship broke out began to sneak in.

A surge of energy raced through her, starting from her gut and shocking her feet so unexpectedly, Aria jumped from her seat. "I'm sorry." The words stumbled from her mouth, not really directed at anyone in particular. Clambering out from behind the table, Aria nearly ran back towards the greenroom. She came to a sudden stop when she found the room void of Wes or anyone else for that matter.

Behind her, Chloe nearly smacked into Aria. "Miss Montgomery, is everything okay?"

Aria spun around, sighing. Her eyes landed on nothing in particular as she tried to figure out what, exactly, she was doing. "I… need to go. Something came up."

"What about the book signing? You still have a line of people!" Chloe was obviously growing more and more aggravated with this entire interaction.  
"I'll come back next week. My dime."

Chloe nearly groaned, glancing at the confused line of fans. "Are you sure? This will only take another hour or so."

Aria grabbed her purse out of the green room and shook her head, "I have to go."

Curtains drawn, and lights off save for a lone desk light in the corner, Ezra poured himself another glass of Jack Daniels from his bottle. His movements were shaky and unmanageable and, had he needed to talk, his words would have come out slurred. It didn't matter to him, though. All that mattered was that the burning rock in his chest was lightened to resemble nothing.

Her face crawled back into his mind and before it got too far, Ezra downed the last of the glass in one gulp and leaned forward to pour another. Before he could lift the opened bottle off the coffee table, a quiet knock echoed throughout the otherwise silent apartment. His eyes bounced towards the door and then back over to the bottle. The knock was ignored and another drink poured.

A minute or so later, the knock rang out again, this time louder as though whoever was on the other side of the door had gained confidence. "Ezra, please."

Ezra's hand stopped halfway to lifting the glass to his mouth. That voice, he could never forget it. Bringing the liquor with him, Ezra slowly made his way towards the door and opened it slightly.

"Aria."

"Hi, Ezra."

The door, which Ezra had apparently been using to hold himself up against, began to swing out even more and he stumbled over. Aria lunged forward, grabbing him and holding him up. "Oh my god," she cried. "Let's get you onto the couch."

"No, no," Ezra began to shake his head a little, trying to push her away. "You shouldn't come in. It's a tad messy."

Aria let him fall from her support to the couch as she muttered, "Just like you're a tad drunk?"

A laugh so boisterous it caught Aria off guard and hung in the air, sticking out like a sore thumb, rolled easily out of Ezra. "You have always had the best sense of humor." He raised the glass to his lips and took a sip.

"Let's maybe lay off the Jack Daniels for a little, okay?" Aria nervously pulled the glass out of his hands and set it on the table, taking the opportunity to look around the apartment. Old takeout boxes laid scattered, piles of clothing stayed where they had been dropped and paper bags overflowing with trash sat in various locations. "You weren't kidding."

"I think it's been an adequate 'little bit'." Ezra reached forward towards his drink again, picking it up. "Don't worry, I'll pick up after this drink."

Aria sighed with exasperation, "Okay." She grabbed the drink out of his hand and put it down again, this time on the opposite side of the table. "I'll clean. You're not standing up anytime soon. You can, however, drink some water." Aria threw her purse onto the couch and walked into the kitchen, opening all the cupboards she could find. Each proved to be empty. Finally, she resigned to an empty to-go soda cup, rinsing it out first.

"Hmmmm," Ezra leaned back against the couch. "I'll take a water and Jack. Hold the water."

"I'll hold the Jack." Aria handed him the cup and began to clean. Thirty minutes in, the place wasn't squeaky clean, but the trash was compiled, clothes in a laundry bin and some air freshener was sprayed. After throwing together whatever she found in the fridge and making it resemble a sandwich, Aria sat onto the couch next to Ezra and handed the plate over.

"So what's life like as a bestselling author?" Ezra took a bite of the sandwich and successfully poured half the contents onto the plate. He laughed a little and picked up a slice of cucumber.

Aria shook her head, "It's just a stupid memoir. Besides, you know."

Ezra scoffed, "One shot wonder."

"When was the last time you wrote?" Aria asked, picking up a piece of lettuce from the couch cushion between the two of them.

"I don't." Ezra lifted the to-go cup and, from her side of the couch, Aria noticed the brown liquid sloshing around with his careless hand rather than the clear water she'd put in.

"Ezra!" Aria searched for the bottle of Jack, only to find it empty. Enraged, she aggressively pulled the cup from Ezra's hand.

Anger flashed over his face, "Give it to me, Aria. I need it."

Aria stood up, keeping the cup out of arm's length, "What you need is help. You're sick."

"I'm fine." Ezra snapped, "And even if I wasn't, it's not your business."

"Yes, Ezra, it is."

"You left me, Aria!" Ezra's yell hit so loud, Aria swore she could feel the walls shake. His next words were barely a whisper, "You left me."

Putting the cup back down, Aria sighed, "I know South America was hard for you, but-"

Ezra let out a cruel laugh, almost mocking, "South America wasn't a walk in the park, but you're wrong if you think that's what this is about."

"Then by all means," Aria cried, "Please, explain it to me."

"Why should I?!"

"Why-," Aria stopped herself, appalled. "Because I love you, Ezra. I'll always love you. We've been through too much together."

Silence took over the room, an old clock ticked in the background. Ezra looked Aria up and down with a kind of distaste she'd never seen-especially from him. She ached with pain. "Why did you leave?" Ezra hissed.

"You know why I left, Ezra," Aria nearly whimpered. "This place, this town, everything. I had to get away from it all. I had to start over again."

"And you couldn't do that with me?" Ezra's eyes screamed pain, tears growing in the pockets. "I was apart of everything you wanted to forget?"

Aria sank onto the coffee table, her knees touched his but neither made a move to change that, "I'm not proud of the way I chose to heal, Ezra, but I'm not going to apologize for it, either." Ezra held out his hands in agreement and then reached around the girl he once loved to pick up the cup. As a tear finally escaped, Aria made no objections towards Ezra's downing the last of his drink. "Please, isn't you. I barely recognize you. It kills me to see you like this."

"It kills me to see you." Ezra's voice was cold, he grabbed the empty bottle and stood up, slowly and unsteadily making his way into the kitchen. His depth perception proved to leave much to be desired and the bottle fell from his hand to the island, shattering upon impact. At the same time, Ezra lost his balance and caught himself by landing a hand on top of the broken glass. A slew of cuss words flew from his mouth and he held up a bloodied palm.

Aria lept to her feet, wiping away stray tears before running to Ezra's aide. She grabbed his hand and inspected the cut, deeming it minor, and busied herself with cleaning and patching it up. Neither spoke throughout the whole process, both still feeling the sting of the other's recent words. As Aria slid the edge of the medical tape down, Ezra whispered, "Did I tell you why I left for South America?"

"No," Aria shook her head. "I don't think you did."

"I needed out, too." Ezra swallowed, taking his time, maybe looking for the courage to continue. His voice was raspy and hopeless. "You were everywhere. Every street corner, every restaurant. Even years later, people still whispered about us, about you and your friends… I was going crazy. When writing couldn't even help I knew it was time to leave."

"That backfired a little bit. Given everything with, Nicole." Aria's voice trailed off, immediately regretting her word choice.

Ezra pulled a stool out from under the island and sat down, remaining silent and Aria took the chance to busy herself cleaning the glass up. It took her by surprise when Ezra spoke again. "No one bothered asking me why South America sent me so far into the rabbit hole."

"Ezra, you don't need a reason." Aria comforted. "Horrible things happened while you were there and-"

"It sucked, Aria. That's what it was. And yes it, it was traumatizing. But I didn't start… because Nicole disappeared or because of things I'd seen." Ezra looked down at the ground before continuing, "It was you, Aria. Losing Nicole like that was scary, it was shocking, but it was never as hard as losing you. When you were kidnapped, I felt like I died. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't sleep, eat, anything. For weeks, I barely survived I was consumed by worry. When CeCe Drake was arrested I wanted to kill her myself." Suddenly, he looked up, stared Aria directly in the eyes. "Her disappearance did one thing: killed me, because it brought back everything I felt when you were gone. I went into a cave of pain and I just wasn't able to find my way out. Every night, I relive your kidnapping over and over. It sounds horrible, like I never even cared for Nicole…"

"Did you read my book?" Aria gently prodded.

Ezra shook his head. "I wanted to, I bought it, but just… could never bring myself to actually read it."

"I understand," Aria hurried to say. She looked around the apartment until her eyes landed on the familiar red book cover on the desk in the corner. Once she retrieved it, Aria flipped open to a page towards the beginning of the book and, with a moment's hesitation, held the page out to Ezra. "Read that."

Ezra looked down at the page and then chuckled, "I can't see the letters."

Clearing her throat, Aria pulled the book back to her and read aloud. "It's the dedication. Um, 'To B26. I survived because of you.'" She quietly shut the book and left it on the counter. Ezra's eyes grew red with unshed tears, once again avoiding eye contact. "The one question I'm always asked the most at book readings, is 'what happened to Ezra?' 'Did you two ever get back together? Bring some closure?' I always fed them some line about going our separate ways. What I don't tell them is…" Aria's voice cracked and the tears won over. "I'm afraid. Afraid that I already met the one, and let him go."

At this, Ezra looked up from the floor. "You are the love of my life. I know that. I've known it for a long time now." Suddenly, he turned his whole body away from Aria, unable to look at her. "But I'm a mess these days. And you… you deserve so much better."

Aria chewed at her lip for a moment and then pulled out the neighboring stool, taking a seat. "I'm a mess, too, Ezra. Every one of us. We're all just… broken. Hanna created a whole new childhood. Emily moved as far away as possible, rarely even talks to us anymore. Spencer is so closed off she doesn't even have friends or, or a personal life anymore. And me, God knows I haven't slept in years now."

With the tip of his finger, Ezra, as gently as he could given his state, turned Aria's face towards him. "I'm sorry I drank a whole bottle of Jack tonight."

"I'm sorry for every day I didn't call you, even when I knew you were hurting." Aria took in Ezra's dirty, scraggly face. "Are you growing a beard?"

"Emily asked me that once, too. Turns out I just suck at shaving." Ezra smiled, which seemed to be the first genuine smile of the night. "Can I kiss you? Just once before you leave. Can I kiss you one last time?"

Aria sighed and leaned closer, letting his hand slide up the side of her face and into her hair. When their lips touched, a weight Aria didn't know she had been carrying around was lifted off her shoulders. A smile crept over her own face, breaking apart the kiss. "When was the last time you brushed your teeth?"

"I miss kissing you everyday," Ezra said, quite bluntly.

Laughing a little, Aria stood up, resting her hand on Ezra's chest like she always used to, more from habit than anything else. "Let's brush your teeth with an entire bottle of toothpaste and then put you into bed and we can discuss that next one tomorrow morning."

Standing up with much difficulty, Ezra wrapped his hand around Aria's arm. "I don't know if I'll be able to say this sober, so I need you to promise me something."

"What?" Aria asked, surprised how flushed she felt at the mere touch of his hand.

"At least be my friend. We don't have to kiss again, but at least be my friend. I don't have many of those these days. And I'm too afraid to go to my first AA meeting alone." Ezra's eyes were drooping closed, and, though he probably didn't fully realize it, his hand had slid down her arm and laced itself into Aria's.

Aria squeezed his hand once. "I'll go to all of them, Ezra. I survived CeCe Drake because of you. There's no way in hell I'll let you fight this battle alone."


	2. Step 1

2 Weeks Sober

Step 1: We accept the fact that all our efforts to stop drinking have failed.

Two weeks had passed since Aria had knocked on Ezra's door for the first time in too many years. She had taken him into his bedroom, helped him change into the only clean clothes she could find, which happened to be an old Hollis shirt and a pair of basketball shorts, and let him climb into bed.

Ezra had managed to fall asleep before his head even hit the pillow, at least as far as Aria could tell, and she was glad for this because, habitually, Aria had pulled up the blankets on the left side of the bed and nearly climbed in. Catching herself, Aria stopped, debating her next move. She knew how many years had passed since she'd had a real night's sleep and, worrying she would bother Ezra, began to move for the door.

The quiet voice, muffled by layers of exhaustion, barely escaped over the blanket half covering the owner's face, but Aria still caught what he'd said. "Stay." Sighing deeply, Aria let herself climb under the sheets beside him.

As she lay awake for a while, Aria could have sworn that if she'd let her mind wander off too much the only thing left to remind her that she wasn't a teenager again would be the lingering smell of alcohol. It was the first night in a very long time that Aria slept undisturbed by insomnia or nightmares.

The following morning, Aria woke up to Ezra's warm body cuddled up behind her with his arm holding her close. Her phone buzzed relentlessly and she quickly slid it off the bedside table before it woke up Ezra. She inwardly groaned at the sight of emails, text messages and voicemails all from her manager. Christopher did not appear to be too happy with her sudden disappearance.

As the next two weeks played out, Aria kept up with Ezra by phone from whatever city she happened to be in that day for her book tour and then took the first flight back to Philly on Thursdays for the AA meetings.

It wasn't until the Tuesday after the second meeting that the first bump in the road slowed anything down. Another publicity meeting had come to an end and Aria stepped out of the room, checking her phone. A missed call popped up from Ezra and she opened the voicemail.

"Aria," Ezra's voice sounded raw and tired. "Please just… I need you. I know you're at work, but I need you. Please."

Despite the protests of Aria's manager, she pushed back the rest of her schedule for the day and booked a one way ticket from Austin to Philly. Eight times she tried to return Ezra's call and eight times it went straight to voicemail. Finally, she resigned to pleading with him over a message, promising to be there as soon as she could and to hold on.

Her mind searched for someone to call, anyone, but she knew that Wes only stepped up to the plate when he was forced to and that Ezra had made her promise to keep the events a secret from the others. So she turned off her phone as she boarded the plane and prayed to God that he would be okay by the time it landed.

The taxi pulled up to the brewery a few hours later and fear burned through Aria. Ezra still had yet to return her phone call and her mind jumped from one worst-case scenario to the next. As she nearly ran through the brewery, Aria didn't even slow down to cast a smile towards whoever happened to be working at the time.

Halfway up the stairs, Aria stopped dead in her tracks as the sickening crash of glass echoed throughout the coffee shop, drawing the attention of all the customers. Her hands shook and she bolted the rest of the way. Throwing open the door to Ezra's apartment, Aria just caught him sliding down the living room wall opposite the island counter. His sobs echoed through the room and he barely seemed to notice the woman racing towards him.

"Ezra!" Aria cried. She sank down next to him, sliding an open palm onto his tear stained cheek, her other hand steadied her awkward kneeling position on the floor below. "Ezra, are you okay?"

The man looked up from the floor to ceiling, his voice trembling as much as his body, "It's taunting me. It won't leave me alone." Aria's eyes darted around the room, searching, until they landed on the island's wall. A dark liquid slid down towards the broken bottle of Hennesy below.

"Where did you get that?" She asked gently.

Ezra gasped a little with the heaving of the sob, "I bought it. I'm so sorry, Aria." This time he looked her directly in the eye. "I bought it. I wanted to drink it all, and forget everything. Just make it stop."

Aria swallowed, reluctantly preparing herself to ask the one question that she knew she needed to, though the answer was not something she wanted to hear. "Did you-"

"No." The word was caught by a sob in Ezra's throat, but Aria still heard it. Her chest released and tears filled her eyes. "No, I couldn't do that to you."

Casting a small smile, Aria nodded a little, passing on what little comfort and thankfulness she could muster in the moment. She repositioned herself so that she sat cross legged on the floor beside Ezra and he let his feet slide out in front of him. His tears still fell, though.

A minute or so passed before Ezra broke the silence. "How did I do this to myself?"

"You were broken." Aria slipped her hand into his and the contact immediately seemed to slow his tears. "The kind of broken that no one but you could stitch back together."

"How did you do it?" Ezra asked. The roughness of his words were not directed at Aria, rather himself. "How did you put yourself back together?"

"You probably don't remember this, but I don't sleep." Aria paused, unsure of how much she wanted to share, but she reminded herself of the way Ezra had put everything on the table for her. "I close my eyes and I'm back in the dollhouse, being stalked again… Seeing you shot." Her voice trailed off for a moment. "One day, I lay in bed too tired to get out after three nights of absolutely no sleep and I realized I was failing my classes and my boss was about to fire me. They didn't care I couldn't sleep or get myself out of bed. Life went on, Ezra, and it was starting to go on without me."

"What if…" Ezra let out a meloncholic snicker. "What if it already left the train station?"

Aria squeezed his hand, "Then we'll catch the next one together."

Suddenly, Ezra's tears were back, much faster and heavier this time. "Aria, please don't leave me again."

"I'm not going anywhere," Aria swore. She tangled her hand in his hair, letting her thumb caress the side of his temple.

Ezra shook his head, "No, I mean here. My apartment."

The pure despair and fear evident in every crease of Ezra's face physically broke Aria's heart. "I have a book tour, Ezra. There's just a couple more weeks left."

"I know. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It's just-," Ezra's chest began to heave as though he were panicking and he yanked his hand from Aria's as he dug the balls of his palms into his sockets, protectively pulling his legs back to his chest.

"Whoa, Ezra. Breathe!" Aria scooted closer, unsure of what to do. "Ezra, Ezra, you're okay. Just breathe. Tell me what's wrong."

Once Ezra finally regained control of his breathing he rasped out, "When you're not here it's too hard." He stopped, taking a second to catch his breath again. "It's like, I can't convince myself you're still safe. You're alive, you're… Okay. I've been locking myself in my bathroom at night so I don't go out and find something to drink-anything. Because every piece of me screams for it, buzzes for it, and I can't stop it. So please, stay with me. I won't be able to do this if you don't."

His fear morphed quickly into shame and Ezra buried his face into his bent knees. Aria wrapped her arm around his shoulder and gently kissed his forehead. "Whatever you need, Ezra. I'll find a way to get it. So I'll stay." An emotionally drained Ezra leaned into Aria and she began to rub his back until his breathing slowed to normal and he could move from the floor.

That was the same evening the remainder of Aria's book tour was cancelled.


	3. Step 2

6 Weeks sober

Step 2: We believe that we must turn elsewhere for help

In the aftermath of Ezra's panic attack, it came out that what he had truly meant and, ultimately, could not articulate at that time was that it was not during the day that Ezra needed Aria close by. The days were always fine. He found that he was able to, more often than not, distract himself with chores and, slowly but surely, taking on more of his previous duties as owner of the brewery. It was the evenings when the sun began to set and life began to slow down when the problems came. The darkness began to suffocate as the town around him grew quieter by the minute. It was then that the voices of addiction came out to play and the liquor store started to call his name. The nights were always the worst, when the black seeped in through the cold of the window panes and the emptiness of the bed began to scream memories of years were the moments that Ezra found himself most needing Aria, needed to be able to her close and remind himself that she was there, alive, and okay.

Their days became pretty routine soon after that. Ezra, who always had been the early riser of the two, would wake up and make breakfast for the two of them and Aria would sit and eat with him before heading out the door on her way to Philly for the day. Coffee shops knew her well in the city, she spent a lot of time there parked in front of her computer doing phone interviews and working on her next novel from which she'd already received an advance. Fridays, she guest lectured at the University of Pennsylvania, more to get out of the house and keep tensions from rising than anything else. She would return home either to an already cooked meal or baring takeout herself. It wasn't the ideal situation for the business owner or writer, but they didn't mind.

It had been a little over a month and this day to day routine had already become normal life to the two. Aria was scrolling through Instagram on her phone as Bride of Frankenstein played on the television. Her attention was called towards Ezra as he came from the shower, his old t-shirt already sporting a few drops of water from his hair. He walked around the couch and casually picked up her sprawled out legs, taking a seat beneath before placing them down in his lap.

The kiss from that first night still had not been talked about, or repeated, and Aria couldn't even be sure that Ezra remembered it in the first place. However, as the days passed by, the occasional touching became frequent cuddling and these days they seemed to be touching every time the other was around.

"My mom called," Aria stated, glancing over the top of her phone at Ezra.

Ezra nodded once, "Oh, I thought I heard you on the phone. How is she doing?"

Aria hit the side button on her phone and carelessly dropped her phone between herself and the cushion. "She's good. She thought she saw me walking into the brewery the other day."

A flash of anxiety covered Ezra's face, "What did you say?"

"That she probably just saw someone that looked like me." Ezra looked relieved, but Aria wasn't finished. "Ezra, my parents are starting to ask questions. Why I cancelled the book tour, what I'm doing now… It's getting harder and harder to find answers that satisfy them"

"You know I don't want people to know," Ezra nearly snapped, but Aria leaning forward and setting her hand on top of his calmed him immediately.

"People already knew. You broke a chair in Hanna's mom's hotel."

"We live in a town where admitting you have a problem causes more gossip than anything else, you know it better than anyone." Ezra immediately regretted his words, but Aria didn't even seem to hear them.

Aria rubbed her thumb back and forth over the back of her hand. "Just let me tell my parents, that's all I ask. They won't say anything to anyone else." The lack of a response spoke for itself, so Aria looked him directly in the eyes. "What are you so afraid of, really?"

Breaking eye contact, Ezra halfheartedly stared at the TV screen. A moment passed before he said anything. "What if I fail? What if people know I'm trying to get better then I fall off the wagon and they know?"

"That's not failing. Failing is never even trying. And if you do relapse, I'll still be here for you. You'll still mean the world to me. That's not going to change that. If people talk, they talk. Take my word for it, you'll still survive." The final words took a lighter, playful tone and Ezra chuckled a little bit, looking back at Aria.

Still, he sat in silence for a little until making a vague decision. "Soon, I promise." Pulling his hand from underneath, he switched the positions and took her hand this time, "Have I said thank you yet?"

Aria couldn't contain the smile that spread over her lips, "Everyday, Ezra."

Without hesitation, Ezra dove in and planted a kiss on her lips, from which she immediately pulled away from out of surprise. Ezra began to lean back, already forming the words of an apology, but Aria's returning kiss suffocated the words before they even had a chance to live.

The heat of the moment intensified with each passing second. Six weeks of nothing had really built up fast and suddenly, Ezra was guiding her down onto the couch. His hand moved towards the hem of her t-shirt when suddenly, he stopped.

For a split second, Aria thought he had hesitated from second-guessing until she suddenly realized that his entire body had gone limp. "Ezra?!" Aria panicked, shaking his shoulder. It was no longer just his shoulder shaking, though, his entire body began to jerk as if by extreme electrocution. Unpinning herself from underneath his convulsing body, Aria rolled off the couch, and smacked her head on the coffee table on the way down. "Ezra!" She tried again, realizing with a sickening feeling in her stomach that her phone was on the other side of him and his was nowhere to be seen.

"Help!" Aria screamed as she leaped onto her feet and tore through the apartment door. Her feet pounded down the stairs in the brew. "Help! Somebody call 911!" Multiple customers had their phones pinned to their ear before even a heartbeat could pass.

"Aria?!"

She turned at the sound of her name, coming face to face with her mother. An icy cold feeling ran through her veins, but all she could say was, "Ezra's having a seizure." True to her selfless character, Ella followed Aria up the stairs without a word. Even when she noticed the signs of two people living in a shared space for quite some time, Ella ignored it and rushed to hold Ezra as still as possible so as to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself.

The paramedics came in shortly after and Aria was glad for it because she was too much of a wreck to have helped Ella much. After a quick explanation of what had happened, it became clear that Aria, as neither family nor an emergency contact, would not be allowed in the ambulance. A minor fight broke out over this until Ella shushed her and offered to drive Aria herself.

As the shock and urgency of the situation slowly began to die off in the car ride, Ella took the opportunity to ask about the elephant in the room. "How long have you been staying with Ezra, Aria?"

The younger girl looked down at her lap, she was still wearing her baby blue pajama pants. She sniffed back the tears-induced runny nose and sighed a little, "About a month."

"A month?!" Ella cried, looking briefly from the road towards her daughter. "And you didn't tell us? Are you having money problems?"

"No, mom, I'm fine." Aria assured, knowing in her gut where this conversation would end and deciding to get it over with now in the privacy of the car. "Ezra's drinking got really bad and he's started recovery."

Again, Ella glanced at her daughter, "What do you mean? What does this have to do with you?"

"He just can't be alone. If he's alone it gets to be too much and he drinks." Aria looked out the window as the still familiar town passed by. Ezra's words came back to her, about seeing her on every street corner. In the state of uncertainty, all she could see was him, the memories they shared together. A sob fell from her mouth and she felt herself saying something to her mom that she had not yet been able to admit to herself. "And I don't mind because I need him, too."

The hospital parking lot was nearly empty, as it tended to be in Rosewood, and Ella found a spot easily. Once the car was in park, Ella pulled her daughter in closer to her for a hug and Aria felt as though she were ten once more. When the two broke apart, Ella slid a piece of hair behind Aria's ear and wiped away a stray tear. "Have I ever told you how much I regret my reaction that first day Ezra Fitz stood before your father and I and professed his love for you?" Aria let out a lone chuckle, but shook her head no as she wiped her cheek dry. "Your dad, too. We thought that-I don't know what we thought anymore. That he was taking advantage of you… Horrible things. The longer it went on, though, the more we could tell that that wasn't the case. In fact it was pretty clear he wasn't just any boyfriend to you either. There was something real there."

Barely containing a smile, Aria said, "You know I met him before school even started that year?" A look containing surprise and confusion passed over Ella's face and Aria laughed despite the circumstances. "I… had a fake ID and I was at this bar grabbing a burger and he was a couple seats down. We ended up making out in the bathroom and I honestly thought I would never see him again. Then school started."

The silence made it seem as though Ella was having a hard time processing the story until she exclaimed, "You had a fake ID?!" Her only response was her daughter laughing as she climbed out of the car. During the walk to the hospital entrance, the grim feeling fell down over the two again and conversation ceased.

Inside, the receptionist informed the two that Ezra had been checked in already and that the doctor would let her know when she would be able to see him. It only took 20 minutes, but still the time dragged on.

Room 203 was a nice, single room with a wonderful view of the town. Ezra was already awake on the bed, propped up by pillows and dressed in a hospital gown. IVs poured drugs into his veins and a machine echoed his heartbeats back to him. At the foot of his bed a tall, grey haired Doctor stood before him speaking from the chart in his hands. At the sight of Aria and Ella, he stopped.

"Hi there, I'm Dr. Williamson." His greeting was open ended and obviously expectant of a return.

"I'm Aria, and this is my mom, Ella." Aria glanced furtively at Ezra from his place on the bed, not sure what else to say.

Then the dreaded question she had been avoiding in the first place, "How are you related to Mr. Fitz, here?"

Distracted by the title and trying to keep in the laugh boiling up, Ezra began to speak, "She's my-"

"Girlfriend," Aria interjected. "I'm his girlfriend." She had sensed his own hesitancy towards the question and knew he wouldn't feel comfortable using that classification without her approval.

"Ah," the doctor nodded, returning his attention to the charts in hand. Either he didn't notice the awkward exchange or he'd chosen to ignore it. "Well, as I was saying, it seems as though the seizure is merely a response to alcohol abuse. Unfortunately, there is no telling if there will be another episode, or how many more, for that matter."

Aria sat down in the chair beside the bed and set her hand on top of Ezra's. "Is there at least any kind of medication you can give him?"

"Most seizures brought on by heavy drinking rarely become a frequent occurrence. My suggestion would be to wait it out, be prepared and if another one does occur then we will look at the possibility of medication. I would like to hold you overnight for observation." The doctor waited for Ezra's nod and then excused himself from the room.

Ella also made a move to leave, but Ezra called after her. "Wait, Mrs. Montgomery, please." She turned back to the bed, and Ezra continued. "I just wanted you to know that I'm in AA, and I'm six weeks sober. It's not much, yet, but I will get better."

"Six weeks is amazing, Ezra. Keep up the good work." She cast a smile, muttered something about waiting in the hall and took her leave.

With the room to themselves, Aria asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Ezra stated. "Glad you're here."

"Ezra-," Aria stopped herself. The words had stopped in her throat, caught on a gasp as her stomach clenched and tears filled her eyes. She'd kept herself from saying the words for so long that now, it felt as though they were erupting from her. "I love you. I love you so much. I can't keep pretending like we're just really good friends living together or… I love you Ezra and I want to be able to say it to you everyday."

Leaning forward in his bed, Ezra placed a gentle kiss on Aria's lips, "I love you, too."

"I spent the last seven years of my life trying to convince myself I didn't still love you. Trying to convince myself you weren't the only person I could ever see myself with. It's you, it'll always be you." Ezra set his hand on the side of Aria's face and she stopped talking for just a moment.

Chuckling, he said, "Aria, if you let me, I will be here everyday. I'm not going anywhere." A small smile played over her lips. "I will never stop loving you."

That night, Aria fell asleep talking to Ezra until two in the morning, their hands interlaced and her head on the fresh sheets.

 **AUTHORS NOTE:**

 **Thank you for the amazing response to this story. Honestly, I had no idea I would be continuing it from a oneshot. This story will go for a total of 13 chapters, including the prologue, the remaining 12 telling the tale of Ezra making his way through the 12 steps** **.**

 **The rest of the liars will be introduced back in in the next chapter. If there are any specific pairings you want to see, comment them in the reviews and I will do my best to include them!**


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